Kejadian 34:7

34:7 Now Jacob’s sons had come in from the field when they heard the news. ¹  They ²  were offended ³  and very angry because Shechem ⁴  had disgraced Israel ⁵  by sexually assaulting ⁶  Jacob’s daughter, a crime that should not be committed. ⁷ 

Kejadian 38:24

38:24 After three months Judah was told, ⁸  “Your daughter-in-law Tamar has turned to prostitution, ⁹  and as a result she has become pregnant.” ¹⁰  Judah said, “Bring her out and let her be burned!”

Imamat 19:29

19:29 Do not profane your daughter by making her a prostitute, ¹¹  so that the land does not practice prostitution and become full of lewdness. ¹² 

Ulangan 23:17-18

Purity in Cultic Personnel

23:17 There must never be a sacred prostitute ¹³  among the young women ¹⁴  of Israel nor a sacred male prostitute ¹⁵  among the young men ¹⁶  of Israel. 23:18 You must never bring the pay of a female prostitute ¹⁷  or the wage of a male prostitute ¹⁸  into the temple of the Lord your God in fulfillment of any vow, for both of these are abhorrent to the Lord your God.

Ulangan 23:1

Purity in Public Worship

23:1 A man with crushed ¹⁹  or severed genitals ²⁰  may not enter the assembly of the Lord. ²¹ 

1 Korintus 5:13

5:13 But God will judge those outside. Remove the evil person from among you. ²² 

[34:7]  ¹ tn Heb “when they heard.” The words “the news” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[34:7]  ² tn Heb “the men.” This sounds as if a new group has been introduced into the narrative, so it has been translated as “they” to indicate that it refers to Jacob’s sons, mentioned in the first part of the verse.

[34:7]  ³ tn The Hebrew verb עָצַב (’atsav) can carry one of three semantic nuances depending on the context: (1) “to be injured” (Ps 56:5; Eccl 10:9; 1 Chr 4:10); (2) “to experience emotional pain; to be depressed emotionally; to be worried” (2 Sam 19:2; Isa 54:6; Neh 8:10-11); (3) “to be embarrassed; to be insulted; to be offended” (to the point of anger at another or oneself; Gen 6:6; 45:5; 1 Sam 20:3, 34; 1 Kgs 1:6; Isa 63:10; Ps 78:40). This third category develops from the second by metonymy. In certain contexts emotional pain leads to embarrassment and/or anger. In this last use the subject sometimes directs his anger against the source of grief (see especially Gen 6:6). The third category fits best in Gen 34:7 because Jacob’s sons were not merely wounded emotionally. On the contrary, Shechem’s action prompted them to strike out in judgment against the source of their distress.

[34:7]  ⁴ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Shechem) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[34:7]  ⁵ tn Heb “a disgraceful thing he did against Israel.”

[34:7]  ⁶ tn Heb “by lying with the daughter of Jacob.” The infinitive here explains the preceding verb, indicating exactly how he had disgraced Jacob. The expression “to lie with” is a euphemism for sexual relations, or in this case, sexual assault.

[34:7]  ⁷ tn Heb “and so it should not be done.” The negated imperfect has an obligatory nuance here, but there is also a generalizing tone. The narrator emphasizes that this particular type of crime (sexual assault) is especially reprehensible.

[38:24]  ⁸ tn Heb “it was told to Judah, saying.”

[38:24]  ⁹ tn Or “has been sexually promiscuous.” The verb may refer here to loose or promiscuous activity, not necessarily prostitution.

[38:24]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and also look, she is with child by prostitution.”

[19:29]  ¹¹ tn Heb “to make her practice harlotry.” Some recent English versions regard this as religious or temple prostitution (cf. TEV, CEV).

[19:29]  ¹² tn Heb “and the land become full of lewdness.” Regarding the term “lewdness,” see the note on Lev 18:17 above.

[23:17]  ¹³ tn The Hebrew term translated “sacred prostitute” here (קְדֵשָׁה [qÿdeshah], from קַדֵשׁ [qadesh, “holy”]; cf. NIV “shrine prostitute”; NASB “cult prostitute”; NRSV, TEV, NLT “temple prostitute”) refers to the pagan fertility cults that employed female and male prostitutes in various rituals designed to evoke agricultural and even human fecundity (cf. Gen 38:21-22; 1 Kgs 14:24; 15:12; 22:47; 2 Kgs 23:7; Hos 4:14). The Hebrew term for a regular, noncultic (i.e., “secular”) female prostitute is זוֹנָה (zonah).

[23:17]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “daughters.”

[23:17]  ¹⁵ tn The male cultic prostitute was called קָדֵשׁ (qadesh; see note on the phrase “sacred prostitute” earlier in this verse). The colloquial Hebrew term for a “secular” male prostitute (i.e., a sodomite) is the disparaging epithet כֶּלֶב (kelev, “dog”) which occurs in the following verse (cf. KJV, ASV, NAB, NASB).

[23:17]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “sons.”

[23:18]  ¹⁷ tn Here the Hebrew term זוֹנָה (zonah) refers to a noncultic (i.e., “secular”) female prostitute; see note on the phrase “sacred prostitute” in v. 17.

[23:18]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “of a dog.” This is the common Hebrew term for a noncultic (i.e., “secular”) male prostitute. See note on the phrase “sacred male prostitute” in v. 17.

[23:1]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “bruised by crushing,” which many English versions take to refer to crushed testicles (NAB, NRSV, NLT); TEV “who has been castrated.”

[23:1]  ²⁰ tn Heb “cut off with respect to the penis”; KJV, ASV “hath his privy member cut off”; English versions vary in their degree of euphemism here; cf. NAB, NRSV, TEV, NLT “penis”; NASB “male organ”; NCV “sex organ”; CEV “private parts”; NIV “emasculated by crushing or cutting.”

[23:1]  ²¹ sn The Hebrew term translated “assembly” (קָהָל, qahal) does not refer here to the nation as such but to the formal services of the tabernacle or temple. Since emasculated or other sexually abnormal persons were commonly associated with pagan temple personnel, the thrust here may be primarily polemical in intent. One should not read into this anything having to do with the mentally and physically handicapped as fit to participate in the life and ministry of the church.

[5:13]  ²² sn An allusion to Deut 17:7; 19:19; 22:21, 24; 24:7; cf. 1 Cor 5:2.